March Tokusatsu of the Month - Chousei Kantai Sazer X -Talk Up!

[Lynxara]

Man, episode 20 was great. I think the near-total absence of chasing around Cosmo Capsules from the plot is not coincidental.

[HIDE]- I'm starting to think maybe Sazer X switched to its second verse for the OP because the second verse sounds a lot better. Either that or I'm developing Stockholm Syndrome.
- Doing a plot about Takuto's grandpa getting kidnapped just lampshades how the Neo-Descal could've already wiped Takuto's house off the face of the Earth via orbital bombardment about a million times by now.
- I have very mixed feelings about this running subplot with Captain Shark perpetually fighting Jackall. On the one hand, yeah, it completely explains why Captain Shark can't instantly solve all of the team's problems with his hypercompetence. On the other hand, it means Captain Shark doesn't really feel like part of the regular cast. He's always gone during major plot scenes. If this drags on much longer the fights are going to start feeling pretty contrived to me, I think.
- Uh, man, this scene where they're untrying Blaird as if the rope is what holds him in place is, in fact, pretty dumb. The dialog's nice, I suspect they just needed something for the other characters to do while the talking happened.
- Man, Miura's acting in this episode is really good. I never would've dreamed that the guy could pull off something like this based on what he's usually doing in OOO.
- Groaza falling over from being shot in the arm is pretty dumb, guys. She even got shot in the Hero Place.
- Sazer X's fights usually don't do much for me, but this episode's fight is really interesting. It's well-shot and creative, you get an exciting fight without disrupting the tone set by the previous scenes at all.
- Ehhh this Jackall exposition feels really forced-in. I just can't care about this when the more interesting plot with Kane is going on in the background. It also makes Captain Shark genuinely look kinda bad. He comes back in time to do a mission and then... is never available to fight the real bad guys! I feel like with Captain Shark they were wanting to add a character comparable to Doggy Krueger to the cast but didn't have an elegant solution in mind for how you keep a superveteran around without upstaging all the other characters.
- Oh, Tobey, you magnificent asshole. I think you're my new favorite supporting character, all taking every chance you can to troll people from 500 years in the future.
- Kane reminds me a little of Witz Sou from Gundam X, only vastly improved. [/HIDE]

 

[FlashNeko]

Hrm... this episode was kinda weird all around.

Like, when did the Sazers suddenly gain intergalactic travel? And where did they even GO? They never mention that or why it would be the same planet that Blaird and Jackal run to.

I think the Blaird/Jackal scenes were also suffering from Unexpected Plot Compression Syndrome. How they started the episode and where they ended up seems far too... fast.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

Man, episode 20 was great. I think the near-total absence of chasing around Cosmo Capsules from the plot is not coincidental.

[HIDE]- I'm starting to think maybe Sazer X switched to its second verse for the OP because the second verse sounds a lot better. Either that or I'm developing Stockholm Syndrome.
- Doing a plot about Takuto's grandpa getting kidnapped just lampshades how the Neo-Descal could've already wiped Takuto's house off the face of the Earth via orbital bombardment about a million times by now.
- I have very mixed feelings about this running subplot with Captain Shark perpetually fighting Jackall. On the one hand, yeah, it completely explains why Captain Shark can't instantly solve all of the team's problems with his hypercompetence. On the other hand, it means Captain Shark doesn't really feel like part of the regular cast. He's always gone during major plot scenes. If this drags on much longer the fights are going to start feeling pretty contrived to me, I think.
- Uh, man, this scene where they're untrying Blaird as if the rope is what holds him in place is, in fact, pretty dumb. The dialog's nice, I suspect they just needed something for the other characters to do while the talking happened.
- Man, Miura's acting in this episode is really good. I never would've dreamed that the guy could pull off something like this based on what he's usually doing in OOO.
- Groaza falling over from being shot in the arm is pretty dumb, guys. She even got shot in the Hero Place.
- Sazer X's fights usually don't do much for me, but this episode's fight is really interesting. It's well-shot and creative, you get an exciting fight without disrupting the tone set by the previous scenes at all.
- Ehhh this Jackall exposition feels really forced-in. I just can't care about this when the more interesting plot with Kane is going on in the background. It also makes Captain Shark genuinely look kinda bad. He comes back in time to do a mission and then... is never available to fight the real bad guys! I feel like with Captain Shark they were wanting to add a character comparable to Doggy Krueger to the cast but didn't have an elegant solution in mind for how you keep a superveteran around without upstaging all the other characters.
- Oh, Tobey, you magnificent asshole. I think you're my new favorite supporting character, all taking every chance you can to troll people from 500 years in the future.
- Kane reminds me a little of Witz Sou from Gundam X, only vastly improved. [/HIDE]

Always fun to read your thoughts, especially on those really awesome episodes. This was the one that made me think Miura actually had chops when it came to acting, and kinda why I always wanted him in a Toei show and then he showed up in OOO and...yeah.

But the episode was good! Really surprised me when I first saw it because I didn't expect the show to dive too much into the sacrifices they might have to make to save the world.

 

[Lynxara]

This was the one that made me think Miura actually had chops when it came to acting, and kinda why I always wanted him in a Toei show and then he showed up in OOO and...yeah.

Yeahh. I gotta say, if I had seen him as Beetle Sazer when this show first ran, I would've wanted him to be a main character, not supporting cast. Which reminds me of a theory I've had that you might find interesting....

[HIDE]Sometimes I wonder if OOO as originally pitched might have cast Ankh as the main character, playing a sort of stylish/fierce Rider like Takumi from Faiz. Can't you just imagine Miura tearing it up as a Rider who was a monster pretending to be a hero as part of a plot to take over the world?

As a supporting character, I think Ankh puts Miura in the difficult position of basically having to play a guy who's really bored 70% of the time and really frustrated the other 30%. You could solve that by removing Eiji from the equation, so Ankh could be wilder.

Then the audience would have every reason to cheer for Ankh to not run wild and instead act like a proper Rider, protecting people and eventually discovering some goodness in him despite the fact that he's a monster. A show like that could be a compelling post-modern Kikaider.[/HIDE]

Really surprised me when I first saw it because I didn't expect the show to dive too much into the sacrifices they might have to make to save the world.

Yeah, episodes like this really are not tokusatu's bread-and-butter. I've seen similar plots show up in mecha shows, especially the 80s Real stuff that I suspect was a big inspiration for Sazer X. Seeing it in live-action, where the drama can be conveyed with more subtlety, is quite a treat.

 

[Lynxara]

Episode 21 felt like a letdown but that was sorta inevitable. Episode 20 was going to be a hard act to follow, no matter what.

[HIDE]- Yeah okay I basically couldn't care about anything involving the kid in this episode. It's pretty hard to go back to Super Sentai stock plots after the last episode was willing to be so gutsy.
- That said, watching the characters cheer was pretty funny. (So was Ad's "why don't they use their hands?" gag.)
- I also couldn't really get into the fight. I have a hard time being interested in anything Jackal does, at least just yet. It also feels weird for Blaird to be sliding back into his "punchy general" personality after he changed so much earlier in the show.
- Remy, what the hell are you wearing? For that matter, what is everyone else wearing? These outfits are insane mid-90s atrocities. I regret not getting to see Sazer Gordo in one.
- I see Sazer X had the idea to turn a cheap typical tokusatsu shooting location into an fictional setting through use of integrated background CGI years before Double tried it. The CGI is not particularly good or anything here but I appreciate the effort.
- Who takes a ping-pong table out on a picnic? Or does this planet just have public ping-pong tables everywhere?
- The scene where Takuto's mom brings Captain Shark a meal kinda makes me think... if Captain Shark acts like white rice is this amazing thing that doesn't exist on other planets, how can Ad have a character tic based around refusing to eat white rice? Like, should Ad have ever really known what white rice is? Is it something that exists on his planet but not Captain Shark's? It's just kind of weird to see a story where white rice is a symbol, but it's basically used to symbolize two different things in two different sub-plots. [/HIDE]

 

[MetalSymphony]

Missed yesterdays show, so i'll comment on it and today's:

-21-

-My God! Remy wearing something OTHER than a Pether and Spandex Uniform! Madness!
-"If you even think about the mission on your day off, i'll kill ya!" - Shark
-It's a Space picnic! on a planet thats biosphere is suspicious simmialr to Earths, only with techicolor planets in the sky and chairs that grow in the wild.
-****, Remy can bend it like Beckham! And right into a child's precious face!:castlerock:
-, damn, don't screw with Remy or Gordo when it comes to balls....
-Yes, lets try the SAME THING 2 times in a row, it's sure to work eventually (and it does)
-"He became because he saw your kick! Now poney up the couple of Hundred thousand yen it'll cost to repair the Stadium".

-22-

-Wonder what Remy's "lessons" entail (/dirtymind)
-Ether they only have that one Screen graphic or Cosmo Capsules have landed in that exact same spot three times.
-Swordfish eh? where's Ryunosuke and his rod when you need it?
-Takuto got Smacked Down, yo!
-So, i guess the commander just 'Knows" where Jackel and Taku are fight then....?
-"Gotengo, Launch! Transform!"
-Core-Braver just Rider Kicked Jackels ass!

 

[FlashNeko]

Not much to say about episode 23, aside from the fact it's painfully obviously this is going to be the last time any of the sub-heroes get any real focus with the plot now barreling in full speed ahead.

As for 24... I have two major thoughts:

1) I am glad they're actually using that plot point they brought up in Ad's focus episode. It was something I had hoped would be important but sometimes things like that get brought up and then quickly forgotten once the character involved stops angsting over it.

2) Oh dear dear DEAR... if there's one thing being a fan of this kind of genre has taught me, when a character is narrating a story arc about destined love in a past tense, it NEVER ends well for SOMEONE involved.

 

[MetalSymphony]

On to today!

-23-

-Jackel would have an Idea how strong men can been given his pervious works.......
- Gordo says more than three words! OMG!!1one!
-It is nice to see Injuries in a Toku series not magically vanish after one episode, as Groza is still effed up by Kane's shot 3 shows later.
-Glad the the big boss is doing his own dirty work for once.
-Oh Noes! The dreaded Space Plastic wrap has disabled our Powerz!
-So the pad knows what Remy is looking for, because it said "Entry to the Base" on it......lol?
-Good thing G2 already had the Dungeon Map.
-That place is pretty spiffy for an Abandoned Mine. Spotless floors and all.
-The Grace of Gordo, now on DVD and Blu-Ray.
-Wait, so the Sazer twins have Gaseous Bodies? How do they enjoy their baths then?


-24-

-Bahh! She's a Siren! With a Shamisenin to boot!
-Daww, the Pooch misses his Family!
-Did this show just became like Termantor 3? the Message wen't from "Te future can be changed" to "The Future is Set".
-That Thunder Shogun seems to be strong. Seems like those that feld into space where the weaker ones.
-Never thought i see a Love Triangle between a Human and two monsters.
-Ohh, Remy denied being Takuto grilfriend a little too much, don't ya think?
-So Groza and Remy just start fighting out of nowhere...........yeah
-I wonder if she knows how to play "Do you remember love?" on that thing?
-hmm, bit of a Cliffhanger.

 

[MetalSymphony]

-25-

-You'd think she would have realized that Takuto didn't lover her from the get go....
-It's DaiMajin!
-First Gang Henshin, not bad.
-"Hey, they saved us!", "Screw the Capsule! Kill them!"
-It's a regular battle royal today, with the Sazers, Jackel and Neo-Descal duking it out.
-"I'll work hard to love a stone faced suit-thong"
-Yay, finally some kind of Temporal ripple effect that makes sense!

-26-

-You really know you suck when R2-D2 there knows more about people than you do.
-Yeah, i don't shark in G2 ether, XD
-Well, it's that place where they fougth in the first show....yay for Budget-related resue of locals.
-Grade must know the Multi-Form techniuqe.
-Kick the (metal) Baby!
-So momentum remains a constant in G2's Tele-beam.....plot-contrivance GO!

 

[Lynxara]

Kekeke episode rush. Stupid weekend. Can I take five episodes of Sazer X in a row? Well... almost. The problem with watching lots of Sazer X at once, I think, is that it makes the flaws stand out more. When it's just one or two episodes at once, it's easier for me to appreciate when the show is doing something original or just plain interesting.

[HIDE]

Lynxara's Entirely Unfair Abridged Synopsis of Sazer X 22

-
TAKUTO: Gee, guys, I'm sorry I'm stil doing the exact same stupid stuff I did at the beginning of the show despite ostensibly going through twenty episodes of character development.
REMY: That's okay. If you didn't, this episode wouldn't have had much of a plot.
-

Episode 23:

- Oh man, is this going to be an episode of non-stop B-Team action? Hells yeah. If every episode of Sazer X was about this it would be the human race's greatest artistic achievement.
- I see Sazer Gordo has mastered the devastating "Moe Howard" fighting style.
- Wow, this mook tapping the ventilation duct is quite possibly the smartest mook ever.
- You know, this episode really begs the question of why the Twinsazers can fight, Sazer Gordo can fight, and Remy gets a little pew-pew pistol for self-defense on foot. Would it be so bad for her to even just have a partial armor suit like Sazer Gordo's?
- The Twinsazers being gaseous beings in robot suits is completely hilarious and rad. It's more of a genuinely sci-fi touch than most tokusatsu now ever bothers with.
- It's kinda neat to, again, see a monster of the week last a few weeks to build it up as a big badass, so you care more when it explodes.
- Man, this episode has some terrible-looking sets. I don't want to be all "proof we are post axe-falling" but I can't imagine the early episodes using sets this bad.

Episode 24:

- So maybe I'm getting a little loopy as I watch so much of this so late at night, but the lion roar just before the recap part of the episode starts really sounds like a belch to me. A massive, monstrous lion belch.
- Oh man, the Thunder Shogun has big anime-girl eyes.
- Oh man, she has a squeaky anime-girl voice.
- ... and she's playing a shamisen! She's a yamato nadeshiko rubber suit monster! What is this I don't even
- What? Logical discussion of time-travel physics, in my Sazer X?
- Not only does Thundara have a bullshit anime girl speech pattern, she makes decisions about her love life using complete "girl in a shounen romance comedy" logic. This is so weird that I am genuinely impressed.
- "What's so good about Takuto?" Oh, like you weren't in subtext with him already, Blaird. If Sazer X had been more popular there would have been reams of fanart of you as a hot anime dude with red hair cuddling a spontaneously smaller and girlier version of Takuto.
- "Please tell me why I am not acceptable?" Lady, look, Takuto doesn't even know how your genitalia work or where they are. Maybe you rubber suit monsters oughta breed with other rubber suit monsters.
- Haha wow a "we shouldn't be fighting at all!" speech. Thundara plays her archetype to the hilt.
- So I can see why someone would compare Blaird and Momotaros at this point, but... man, am I glad Den-O never goes into Momotaros's love life. Listening to Blaird breathing heavily over rubber suit monster booty is unpleasant.
- Uh, what. Takuto is going to bang the rubber suit monster to get a McGuffin? That's your plot, Sazer X? I mean... you know, I thought you'd play with how weird the idea was and come up with a twist. Or at least do a Zonette/Red Racer thing and acknowledge the surreality of the concept. Playing this absolutely straight is honestly kind of icky.

Episode 25:

- ... what the balls, that really is pretty much Daimajin. Well, he does have a thing for pure-hearted maidenly types.
- Could we please... please have fewer shots of Thundara's pert, shiny ass? Her massive rack that appears to have embedded LED lights is unsettling enough.
- You know I think a lot of the uncanny valley effect that's freaking me out with Thundara is her head. It's clearly a cuter, girlier version of Raideen's head. That's suitable for a thunder-themed character. It also means that when I look at Thundara I really don't want to see a pure-hearted love interest.
- There's a certain Keystone Kops quality to the fights in Sazer X where they speed up the footage to make the hits look harder.
- Oh thank God Thundera is gone and this plot is over and the camera isn't pointing at her butt anymore.
- Groaza's fate is a really nice payoff for all the stuff about her ancestors she's been saying since she showed up.
- *sigh* Sazer X, you finally do something sane with time-travel, then have people from the future calling the past to find out if the future is beginning to change. Maybe Tobey is just trolling them again.
- oh God Takuto stop talking about you wanted to bone the rubber suit monster ahhhh

Episode 26:

- And now, 26 episodes into the series, let's establish that the little mascot robot is actually... some sort of bizarre surrogate baby-thing for Remy? What? What possible point could this have? I don't recall G2 ever acting so babyish in prior episodes or Remy being significantly more invested in him than any other piece of equipment. I'd have to go back to check and see if this actively contradicts Remy's attitude toward G2 in prior episodes, but it certainly seems to be coming out of left field.
- It's definitely not consistent with the movie, but frankly the show can't contradict the movie enough.
- Garade, if you can split into three guys who can kick the crap out of the Sazers, why merge back into one guy who isn't kicking the crap out of those guys any harder?
- If G2 could teleport things Cosmo Capsules into itself all along... you know, why didn't it ever do this before? I'm pretty sure they could've gotten all the Cosmo Capsules in the first story arc.
- Oh man, this scene of G2 exploding is just exactly the scene at the end of Star Wars where R2-D2 explodes. He's making similar noises, too.
- Oh no, G2 has techno-AIDs. Of course grandpa is working on him instead of Remy, she only programmed the damned thing.
- Ad, you're awfully eager to murder an electro-infant that's already dying of techno-AIDS.
- Remy crying terrible CG digital tears over the toy robot is just kinda... yeah, I dunno. I honestly think I'd rather be looking at Thundara's terrifying butt.
- Wha? The robot can just... reverse attacks? Then why don't they take it out into fights all the time?
- You know an episode's main plot is bad when the Shark/Jackal stuff is actually a welcome respite from it.
- Oh, and G2 is... over its techno-AIDS? I don't think I understand what happened in this part of the plot. I think I don't care as long as it ends and is never spoken of again.
- This episode was honestly kind of a letdown. Sazer X's first batch of arc-end episodes were really good while this stuff is... I dunno, tepid. Maybe the next episode will turn it around. I didn't dislike episode 26 as much as the movie but I think I'd like getting repeatedly punched in the gut more than the movie.[/HIDE]